biology

Patricia Ann Webb

Patricia Ann Webb is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Patricia Ann Webb rather than just read about it. In short: Patricia Ann Webb (5 April 1925 – 24 January 2005) was a microbiologist known for her work in characterising and classifying severe contagious diseases including Machupo, Lassa and Ebola viruses. Early life and education Webb was born in Cambridge, England in 1925.

Key takeaways

Patricia Ann Webb belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Patricia Ann Webb to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Patricia Ann Webb from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Patricia Ann Webb (5 April 1925 – 24 January 2005) was a microbiologist known for her work in characterising and classifying severe contagious diseases including Machupo, Lassa and Ebola viruses.

Early life and education Webb was born in Cambridge, England in 1925. Her father was medical doctor and Oxford Professor of Pathology Robert A. Webb. She was sent to the United States in 1940 in an evacuation during the Blitz. Webb received her first degree from Agnes Scott College in 1945 and continued on to medical school at Tulane University. She graduated in 1950 and completed placements at St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan and at Kern General Hospital in Bakersfield, California.

Career and research Webb began her virology research on western equine encephalomyelitis, an outbreak of which affected many children in California in 1952. Between 1955 and 1961, she worked on isolating previously unknown viruses associated fevers in Kuala Lumpur at the US Army Medical Research Unit. In 1961, Webb joined the US Public Health Service to investigate rhinoviruses. She worked at the NIH's Middle America Research Unit (MARU) in Panama in 1962–1963 on establishing the origins of viral infections, and the role of rodents in particular. MARU closed in 1975 and Webb moved to the CDC in Atlanta. She began to focus on hemorrhagic fevers including Lassa and Ebola. A blood sample from a patient was sent to her lab, but it had cracked during shipping. Webb performed analysis despite the sample's condition, leading to the identification of the Ebola virus. She is credited as one of the discovers of the virus. Webb worked at a field station in Kenema, Sierra Leone as of 1978 to study the Lassa virus, testing the efficacy of ribavirin as a treatment. She spent the last years of her career from 1981 to 1988 at the CDC Division of Vector-Borne Viral Diseases in Fort Collins investigating transmission vectors between humans and livestock for viral infections. She also worked on models for HIV transmission based on the suggestion that bedbugs could be a potential vector.

Awards and honours 1969 Gorgas Medal (shared with Karl Johnson)

Personal life Webb retired to the UK in 1988. She was described by her peers as being a diligent, disciplined and organised worker, supportive of her younger colleagues. She hosted dinner parties and social events for her staff in the field. Webb's first husband was rickettsiologist Bennett Elisberg. Her second husband was virologist Karl Johnson. She had two sons.

Selected publications Cohen, Robert; O'Connor, Robert E.; Townsend, Thomas E.; Webb, Patricia Ann; McKey, Robert W. (1953-07-01). "Western equine encephalomyelitis: Clinical observations in infants and children". The Journal of Pediatrics. 43 (1): 26–34. Webb, Patricia Ann (1965-09-01). "Properties of Machupo Virus". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 14 (5): 799–802. Murphy, Frederick A.; Webb, Patricia A.; Johnson, Karl M.; Whitfield, Sylvia G.; Chappell, W. Adrian (1970-10-01). "Arenoviruses in Vero Cells: Ultrastructural Studies". Journal of Virology. 6 (4): 507–518. PETERS, C. J.; KUEHNE, R. W.; MERCADO, R. R.; LE BOW, R. H.; SPERTZEL, R. O.; WEBB, P. A. (1974-06-01). "HEMORRHAGIC FEVER IN COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA, 1971". American Journal of Epidemiology. 99 (6): 425–433. Pfau, C. J.; Bergold, G. H.; Casals, J.; Johnson, K. M.; Murphy, F. A.; Pedersen, I. R.; Rawls, W. E.; Rowe, W. P.; Webb, P. A.; Weissenbacher, M. C. (1974). "Arenaviruses". Intervirology. 4 (4): 207–213. Wulff, Herta; Lange, James V.; Webb, Patricia A. (1978). "Interrelationships Among Arenaviruses Measured by Indirect Immunofluorescence". Intervirology. 9 (6): 344–350. Heymann, D. L.; Weisfeld, J. S.; Webb, P. A.; Johnson, K. M.; Cairns, T.; Berquist, H. (1980-09-01). "Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever: Tandala, Zaire, 1977–1978". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 142 (3): 372–376. McCormick, Joseph B.; King, Isabel J.; Webb, Patricia A.; Scribner, Curtis L.; Craven, Robert B.; Johnson, Karl M.; Elliott, Luanne H.; Belmont-Williams, Rose (1986-01-02). "Lassa Fever". New England Journal of Medicine. 314 (1): 20–26. Webb, Patricia Ann; Holbrook, Frederick R. (1988). "Chapter 47: Vesicular Stomatitis". The Arboviruses: Epidemiology and Ecology. CRC Press. Breman, Joel G.; Johnson, Karl M.; van der Groen, Guido; Robbins, C. Brian; Szczeniowski, Mark V.; Ruti, Kalisa; Webb, Patricia A.; Meier, Florian; Heymann, David L.; Ebola Virus Study Teams (1999-02-01). "A Search for Ebola Virus in Animals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon: Ecologic, Virologic, and Serologic Surveys, 1979–1980". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 179 (Supplement_1): S139–S147.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Patricia Ann Webb

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Patricia Ann Webb claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Patricia Ann Webb before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Patricia Ann Webb ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Patricia Ann Webb

In research: Patricia Ann Webb appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Patricia Ann Webb in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Patricia Ann Webb is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1925 births, 2005 deaths, 20th-century English medical doctors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Patricia Ann Webb outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Patricia Ann Webb in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Patricia Ann Webb means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Patricia Ann Webb out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Patricia Ann Webb in simple terms?

Patricia Ann Webb (5 April 1925 – 24 January 2005) was a microbiologist known for her work in characterising and classifying severe contagious diseases including Machupo, Lassa and Ebola viruses. Early life and education Webb was born in Cambridge, England in 1925.

Why does Patricia Ann Webb matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Patricia Ann Webb?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Patricia Ann Webb.